A turn based RPG, which is a kind of game that I don’t really like. I’ve attempted a couple, but Sonic Chronicles is the only one I’ve actually completed. As far as the combat is concerned, I found it a bit more engaging due to the POW attacks, as you have to play a sort of rhythm game for full damage (and do the same to protect yourself when the enemy does one), but as I don’t really know the ins and outs of the genre, I can’t comment on the quality of it.

One thing that Sonic Chronicles does pretty well is story, it has an engaging mystery of what this mysterious group is up to, and when you enter a portal you meet some interesting entities. It feels a bit like Doctor Who in a way, as Sonic can negotiate with the people of these various worlds as they’re not the mindless brutes as they originally seem to be. The new characters introduced are rather interesting, and I would like to see some of them return. The biggest flaw with the story is that it does end with a cliffhanger ending (the main plot is, thankfully, tied up), and a sequel was never made, presumably because the developer – BioWare – became part of EA.

I also really enjoyed the dialogue. Like a lot of BioWare games, you can make dialogue choices. This doesn’t have any impact on the overall story, although if you are nice to Amy, it can lead to an additional conversation where you can set up a potential future romance between her and Sonic. The conversation options allow you to ask some questions, or if you really want to, you can just make Sonic rude and obnoxious with some funny dialogue choices.

Getting around the world I found to be a bit annoying. To access different areas, you need to have certain movement abilities in your party, so sometimes you’ll need a specific character with you, or you’ll encounter some chao eggs or rings you can’t access until you return at a later point (but not too late, there are multiple points of the game that lock you out of previous areas). To trigger this ability, you just tap an icon on the screen. I have particular trouble in the Metropolis area as I didn’t notice I could jump down a platform and searched for ages to try and find the route to get to where I was needed.

I did enjoy Sonic Chronicles overall, due to the charming writing, although some aspects were a let down (the music is just…there, and is the most forgettable music in a Sonic game), the only thing I really disliked was that it was a turn based RPG.

Reviewed on Jan 03, 2024


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